Light Eco, Dark Eco and a Different Price
by White of Dawn
Summary: Two strangers—and a "horse"—arrive at Sandover. How does their presence affect the story that we are familiar with and twist it into something... brighter, darker, different? Only time will tell... so maybe you /shouldn't/ try and make it your enemy...


**Chapter One:  
**_Arrival_

Wednesday, 27th April, 741 P.P.A.

It was the end of another day in Sandover Village. The sun was going down over the ocean, people were going home after a long day, readying themselves for bed and a certain kid with red and blond hair was jabbering his mouth off to his friend before they too went their separate ways for that night.

No one was out to see the glowing silvery-white creature with its wispy blue mane, blowing gently in the breeze, tail flicking from side to side, and its two riders standing atop the waterfall of Sentinel Beach.

"Is this the place," asked the one at the front in a near-whisper, her arms around the neck of the creature.

"Almost," replied the other, his eyes closed in both pain and tiredness. "Just a little further and we'll be there."

The one at the front nodded with determination as she looked at her companion's pained face. "Just hold on," she murmured gently to him. She then faced the creature's ear and said, "Dawnbreak, down."

The creature whinnied gently and jumped down, hoof and paw making little to no sound on the grass and rocks. It's decent far too slow and gentle to be completely natural, its fur glowing gently as it moved in the lowlight.

Leading the creature carefully through the sandy beach, the rider soon arrived at the far end of the village in front of the local yakow farmer's house. She carefully dismounted, whispering for Dawnbreak to stay there and tried to make sure her companion would not wake or fall.

She reached the door and knocked thrice, shuffling nervously.

"If that's you again Daxter, well I'll," came a cranky reply as she heard shuffling from inside the house. As the door opened though, the angry remark stopped abruptly, and a smile cracked upon the old man's face.

"Jaden," he said softly with the smile still in place. "What are you doing here? I thought you lived far to the west..." He trailed off as he saw a tear fall from her eyes.

She hugged him, and it was then he saw what was behind her as she broke into soft sobs.

"Oh my," was all he could say, his eyes widening considerably.

_ΩΔΩ_

It was early the next morning, before the sun had even risen above the forest and sea to the east, that Jaden woke up.

The first thing she thought was that she wasn't in her own bed. The next was she wasn't in her own house. The last was '_by the Precursors!_' And she curled up once more.

She didn't want to get up anymore, everything was gone... the whole place burned down to the ground, the whole village... her home...

She groaned inwardly, but couldn't stay in bed.

Her whole body ached to be _doing_ something. She wasn't used to staying in bed once she was awake and it was going to take a lot more than... _that_ to keep her down.

She quietly got out of bed and looked around. It was her old grandpa's house.

After she snuck out of the house she heard a soft whinny from behind her, accompanied by a nudge on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder.

The silver-white creature looked like a horse, with a few differences—for one its mane was blue. Secondly, its front feet were not hooves, but clawed paws, like a cheetah's. And lastly, it had the ears and tail of a cheetah—only blue and silver, not golden. Its body was white like snow, but with a pearly blue and silver sheen. Its eyes were full of wisdom and intelligence and were a dark blue.

Its coat was glowing gently in the sunlight.

"Hey, Dawnbreak," Jaden said softly, rubbing the mare's nose gently.

Dawnbreak nudged her again and knelt down slightly, as if to say 'get on'.

Jaden smiled and did as she was told, glad for the familiar company of the fellorse.

They rode quietly past the village and back to Sentinel Beach before Jaden dismounted and sat down on one of the rocky, grassy ledges overlooking the ocean.

Dawnbreak snarled at any of the lurker dogs that dared to come too close, slapping the bolder ones over the head with her tail when necessary.

Jaden was just glad for Dawnbreak's company.

It was tough. Seeing all that havoc and chaos caused by those horrid lurkers and their bombs and weapons... Jaden grit her teeth.

Mom and dad had tried to stop them, but they too were overcome by the destructive force of those horrible creatures.

She sighed, releasing all her emotions with that single breath of air, leaving her feeling emotionally drained.

Dawnbreak looked at her with those knowing eyes and nuzzled her neck gently.

"You must miss them too," whispered Jaden, still looking over the ocean. Then, after a moment, she murmured gently, "Thanks."

_ΩΔΩ_

As the sun rose over the sea, so did the people of the village.

"Toby," exclaimed the farmer, seeing his grandson still in bed and his granddaughter Jaden gone.

Toby shot up, "Wh-what?" He then blinked and looked around, "What am I doing here?"

The farmer rolled his eyes, but Toby didn't see it, "The two of you turned up last night on that mare Dawnbreak. You were asleep already and Jaden just broke into tears before she fell asleep as well. I dun't know the rest of that there story, but Jaden is gone. And you're gunna go find her."

Toby paled and stared at his grandpa, "She's gone?"

And with that, he was out of there before you could say, 'muskrat'.

Nobody saw him as he zoomed down to the beach; he used the shortcut around and under the small islands making up Sandover Village to get there.

As he suspected, Jaden was there looking over the ocean.

Jaden was sitting on a grassy section of the cliffs overlooking the Sentinel stone structures and the ocean beyond, sitting with her back against Dawnbreak's glistening hide, humming to herself with her eyes closed.

"Jaden," he called as he walked up to her, cupping his hands to his mouth so he could be heard better.

She snapped her head around, surprised, but smiled when she saw who he was.

"Toby," she shouted gleefully, hopping off the ledge and landing on the sand, sending a wave of the stuff billowing out slightly upon impact. She grinned and ran over to him, giving him a massive tackle-hug. "I'm so glad you're _OK_."

He winced, but smiled widely. "Take more 'n that to take _me_ down," He boasted with a wink.

Jaden pulled back and wiped a tear from her cheek, "Yeah..."

He frowned then looked out towards the sea, "Grandpa was worried about you, you just took off without a word or anything... I better go tell him you're ok."

Nodding, Jaden planted a quick kiss on Toby's cheek, then looked at the new bandage on his right bicep. "Be careful about that one... it might re-open if you aren't," she said glumly. "It didn't heal properly... the cut..."

"I know," he said, his face now emotionless. "I can feel it already."

He then smiled sadly at Jaden and ruffled her hair, "Don't worry. We'll find a way."

She sniffed, they both knew that it was an empty promise, but they would try. Toby then left without another word, to go inform their grandpa.

"There y' are!" he exclaimed as Toby walked up to him, the yakows out of their pen.

"I found Jaden down at the beach," he said, oblivious to the two people watching curiously.

The farmer nodded, "O? Good, good... Leave 'em be for now. You have some work to do! You 'aint going to be doing nothing all day like those troublemakers... the yakows got lose and all my feed _mysteriously_ disappeared!"

Inwardly, Toby groaned. It really was going to be a long day.

_ΩΔΩ_

Daxter was trying so hard not to laugh at the stranger, who was going to have to be herding yakows all day thanks to him and Jak.

Jak was sharing his mirth as they saw the way he was trying not to groan.

They high-fived and Jak used his silent communication, '_Good one!_'

Daxter laughed and stood up, "Yeah, so true. Hey want to go down to the beach next?"

'_But isn't that where that other person is,_' Jak said, taken aback.

Rolling his eyes, Daxter said, "So? We might be able to pull a prank or two on him! Or see if he wants to help _us_ prank someone else! Come on, either way it'll be fun."

Jak thought it over for a bit. '_Fine,_' he said with a shrug.

Daxter pumped a fist into the air, mouthing, "Yes!"

_ΩΔΩ_

Jaden stood there on the beach staring out at the ocean, the sky reminding her of her mother's eyes, the ocean making her long for her Cliffside home.

Two places so similar, yet so different.

She felt Dawnbreak nudge her shoulder, she ignored it. The waves going up and down... up and down...

Dawnbreak nudged her shoulder again and she frowned.

Again, she was nudged, "Cut it out!"

Yet Dawnbreak didn't listen, this time pushing Jaden headfirst into the sand.

Jaden shot up and grinned, "Oh I am _so_ getting you for that!"

Dawnbreak whinnied happily and shimmered out of the visual plane.

"Hey," exclaimed Jaden, "That's cheating."

She stared at Dawnbreak's footprints and saw one appear out of nowhere on the sand.

"Gotcha!" she laughed and the game began.

_ΩΔΩ_

Jak listened quietly as Daxter yabbered on about... whatever it was Daxter yabbered on about. They were only just passing under the stone arches separating the beach from the village. Ignoring the rather strong sense of eco nearby, Jak was lost deep in thought.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by laughter... but it wasn't Daxter's. It sounded feminine. It took him a moment to realise Daxter had stopped talking, and was instead staring straight out towards the sands with wide eyes.

Confused, Jak followed his gaze and was taken aback by the sight.

A girl looking only a year or two younger than the duo, maybe around Keira's age, was laughing and playing some sort of game with a fellorse, something neither Jak nor Daxter had ever seen before.

Jak then looked at Daxter and sniggered, '_Hey Daxter, I think Jaden's a girl._'

Daxter glared at him half-heartedly, "Ya think?"

Jak then laughed silently and shrugged, walking towards the far side of the beach, just past the giant pelican's nest, to go say hi. Daxter 'hmphd' before following him, but of course, being Daxter, he was curious to meet the girl named 'Jaden'.

_ΩΔΩ_

Dawnbreak neighed as Jaden managed to fling her arms around the fellorse's neck. "Ha," she yelled in victory, "I win!"

"Hi there," came a voice, and Jaden's head snapped around to see two strangers about her brother's age, maybe a little younger. Shocked by the sudden appearance, Dawnbreak flashed both of them out of visibility causing both of the boys to jump back in shock, the red-headed one looking around wildly while the blond looking straight at the spot where they had just been—and still were, just not visible.

"J-Jak! Where'd they go," shouted the red-head. "They just disappeared into thin air!"

The one named Jak continued to stare at the spot where Dawnbreak and Jaden were hiding in plain sight, the redhead looked at Jak who made a shrugging motion.

He jumped back, "What do you mean they're still here?"

Jaden paled... he could sense them?

She bit her lip then let go of Dawnbreak, causing her to whoosh back into visibility. "Sorry, you just came out of nowhere," she offered.

Jak grinned, shrugging as if to say 'that's ok.'

He then blinked and nudged the shocked redhead with his elbow.

"Completely weirded out," he mumbled. Then, aloud, he said, "I'm Daxter, he's Jak."

Jaden nodded before turning to the invisible fellorse. "Dawnbreak, come say hello," she said firmly and the creature obliged, allowing Jaden to stroke her nose.

"What is that thing," asked Daxter with a strange look on his face. Jak looked like he was asking the same thing, only silently.

With a light chuckle, Jaden spoke up, "Dawnbreak here is a fellorse. A talented fellorse." She then paused briefly, before looking towards the village, "Have you seen my brother yet?"

Daxter suddenly looked very pale, "Brother? You mean that guy with the short reddish-brown hair?"

Jaden nodded, "Yeah... you see him?"

Jak and Daxter shared a look before Jak nodded and pointed back towards the village, nudging Daxter for a translation.

Sighing, Daxter complied, "He said that he's working for the farmer with the yakows all day."

Tilting her head, Jaden stared at Jak for a moment before blinking it off, "Oh, he's not going to make it that far, he's horrible with dumb animals."

"Yeah, dumb is right," said Daxter without thinking, sniggering slightly, thinking back to one of the many a prank he'd pulled because of that stupidity.

Despite herself, Jaden couldn't help but laugh a little too.

She then looked out to the ocean sadly before the look disappeared quickly, but it was quick enough for Jak to notice.

Jaden then began walking towards the sentinel stone structures.

Daxter snapped out of his thoughts and followed after her, leaving Jak standing there with a tilted head as he watched with curiousity.

Dawnbreak snuffled at Jak's shoulder and he absentmindedly turned to pet the creature on its snout.

It felt like all the coloured eco combined, yet so different at the same time, it left him feeling like he'd gotten a static shock then gone and had a cool bath to wash off the feeling... it was... strange, to say the least... but at the same time, not unpleasant...

When he looked up he saw Daxter chasing seagulls as Jaden half-watched with amusement.

He smiled lightly as he watched them, he figured that Jaden was a nice enough person and she seemed to understand he couldn't talk easily enough, and if her brother was as nice as her he felt a bit guilty for piling all that work on him, though Jak figured he'd probably have had to do it anyway.

But he shook these thoughts aside and followed Dawnbreak, the strange eco-feeling animal, over towards the stone sentinels.

_ΩΔΩ_

Jaden watched with amusement as Daxter shamelessly chased the seagulls like a four-year old on a sugar high, she could barely hold back the giggles that were threatening to come to the surface.

She held back no more and laughed out loud a large grin twisting her lips upward at the sides.

Daxter paused to grin back at her sheepishly, then they both saw Jak and Dawnbreak approaching. With a few last-minute giggles, Jaden then ran over to the slightly broken stone sentinel and picked up a handful of the rocks.

She turned towards the boys with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Have you ever played... _Crab Tipping_," she asked slyly.

Daxter was immediately interested. "No... What is it?"

Jaden grinned and ran to the water's edge. "Oh, it's quite simple," she said, still in that sly 'I'm-about-to-do-something-naughty' voice. "All you have to do is..." she then waded out into the water, wet the stones and covered them in damp sand so they looked like sandy versions of snowballs, "grab some rocks and then..." she trained off and looked out towards the beach sands covered in lurker crabs. "This," she stated simply and hurled the ball of rock and sand at the crab.

It squeaked and flipped over a full 360° before hiding itself away in its shell and falling over.

Daxter burst into raucous laughter.

Jak sniggered a bit and Jaden spoke up, "It's a game to see who can tip the most crabs in the shortest amount of time possible!" She then paused and smiled lopsidedly, "You game?"

Daxter jumped up, "I am SO IN!"

_ΩΔΩ_

After many tipped crabs and fits of laughter, the day not even half over yet, Jaden got up, laughing like she never thought she ever would again.

They had been competing with stunts, like skipping the stone across the water before hitting two crabs—Jak—, hitting one on the side and spinning it into the neighbouring crab—also Jak—, hitting one so hard it flew up into the air before spinning around _twice_ and hitting the sand tip-first, legs waving around in the air madly—Jaden—and missing one of the crabs, hitting the stone wall so hard that the stone rebounded, hit the crab in the back and making it fall flat on its face—Daxter.

Jak was the undisputed winner, Jaden in second place and Daxter bringing up the rear, but no one really cared, they hadn't been keeping score anyway. They were just having fun with a stupid game that did wonders as an icebreaker.

Up until that point the three had been talking—well, Jak using that silent method of communication Jaden didn't really understand—about random things like Daxter complaining about floor-sweeping duty, talking about a prank he'd pulled on someone the day before and talking a bit on some of the things 'old green' yapped on about, Jaden went on full-blown talks on her home village and some of the trouble her and her brother would get into there, she found that talking about it made her feel happy when they were playing that game and just generally being carefree—it didn't hurt like she thought it would, it made her feel like a burden had been lifted from her.

Jaden brushed some sand of her clothing before stretching. "That was fun, thanks for the game, but I better go help my brother with those stupid yakows. Maybe later you could take me to meet Samos the Sage?"

Daxter looked at her and smiled, "No problem! No idea why you'd want to meet the old Crab-apple, though. Anyway, see you later then."

He grinned and Jak waved goodbye as Jaden mounted Dawnbreak, who had been watching the three play with amusement. She stroked the fellorse's neck and said, "Dawnbreak, Hide," and the glimmering animal and her rider set off, their combined form shimmering slightly before winking out of visibility, though the footprints made in the sand continued to appear as if of their own accord.

Jak watched with curiosity, there was something really odd about that animal—besides its strange invisibility act—he just didn't know what It was yet.

Meanwhile Jaden was clinging to Dawnbreak's back and neck as she sprinted—though it really was more like a glide—through the sands and towards the farmer's house, when she got there she hid out of sight of the village and said, "Dawnbreak, reveal."

They whooshed into visibility and caused the watching Toby to jump back slightly out of surprise, "I'll never get used to that."

Jaden grinned widely, "I know."

Toby and Jaden shared a laugh and Jaden looked over her brother's scruffy appearance and raised an eyebrow. He was covered in dirt and mud... at least she hoped it was mud. His hair was scruffier than usual and he looked paler than usual, too.

Seeing his sister's expression he looked down and chuckled. "First he had me clean out the yakow pen, then he had me gather up new food for them and now..., he explained and slapped a loose yakow on the rump, making it walk a bit towards the pen with a grunting moan. "Now he wants me to round them up again. And he isn't helping because he's going to find Daxter, the one who caused the yakows to be loose in the first place, and give him a solid talking-to. Apparently he causes a lot of trouble around here." Toby looked thoughtful.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Jaden laughed.

Toby raised an eyebrow, "You met him?"

"Yep," said Jaden with a grin and a wink. "He's horrible at crab-tipping, but some of the accidental stunts he pulls are _hilarious_!" She threw her hands high into the sky in emphasis causing Toby to chuckle.

"So I take it you had fun then?"

"Yesh," she said with a sly smile, "I had sho much fun!"

They laughed together again and Jaden spoke again, "Anyway, I've decided I am going to help you with these dumb animals."

Toby laughed, "Oh where would I be without you, ey, sis?"

She looked mockingly thoughtful then said, "Hmm..." She shot him a sideways glance and grinned. "In even bigger shi-"

She was cut off by a distinct snort from Dawnbreak who was oh so inconspicuously grazing nearby. If she could, she'd probably be whistling.

Jaden laughed again before she and Toby got to work.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**P.P.A. is short for Post Precursor Age, the time where the precursor's ruled the planet, before the time of TPL.**

**The year 741 was chosen because, well... Naughty Dog never actually said a **_**set**_** year, or date, for that matter, for any game. So I made my own. :P**

_**Review if you liked it! =D  
**__White of Dawn_


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